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Journalism of Courage
As one takes the shiny Muzaffarpur-Purnia National Highway, the road turns left towards Supaul district after the Kosi Mahasetu. At the entrance of the district’s Saharsa Road on April 27, the day the former MP, muscleman and politician was released from Saharsa Jail around 3 am, a poster on an under-construction pillar welcomed 69-year-old Anand Mohan. Put up by ‘Friends of Anand’, a group run by Ajay Kumar Bablu and others, it read, “Satya Pareshan Ho Sakta Hai, Parajit Nahi (Truth can be harassed, but not defeated)”.
The state government had last week amended the Bihar Police Jail Manuals, 2012, by dropping “murder of a public servant on duty” as one of the categories of crime for which an accused could not be considered for premature release before 20 years. This paved the way for the release of Anand Mohan — who was convicted for the lynching of G Krishnaiah, then District Magistrate of Gopalganj, on December 5, 1994 — after over 15 years in jail.
On the day of his release, Anand Mohan was supposed to head to Panchgachhia, his ancestral village, which lies between Saharsa and Supaul. Both Saharsa and Supaul have witnessed the tumultuous journey of the controversial Bihar politician since the 1980s. At the entrance of Panchgachhia village was a poster displaying a huge picture of a smiling Anand Mohan. The poster read, “Suswagatam, Anand Mohan. Aakhirkar Satya Ki Jeet Huyi (Welcome, Anand Mohan. Truth has finally triumphed).”
The poster echoed the sentiments of Panchgachhia residents, who feel that “what happened with Krishnaiah was tragic, but Anand Mohan had little to do with it as he was just a part of the big mob”. The same mob, as per the judgment, had lynched Krishnaiah, who was on his way from Hajipur to Gopalganj. Anand Mohan and the mob were protesting the murder of a local muscleman at the time. Anand Mohan was sentenced to death by the Patna High Court in 2007, but the Supreme Court commuted it to life imprisonment in 2008.
Mood at the village
Anticipating his arrival, Panchgachhia residents didn’t seem comfortable discussing the nitty-gritty of the case or Anand Mohan’s conviction. “The media should look at Anand Mohan’s complete background and struggle”, they said, “rather than repeat just one case over and over again.”
A big village with about 7,100 voters, Panchgachhia has a population of over 21,000 comprising upper caste Rajputs and Brahmins, and scores from the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC). Here, EBCs are called Pachpaunia (literally meaning serving five groups) as they usually work for the influential castes.
Anand Mohan’s ancestral house in Panchgachhia village was given a facelift ahead of the former MP’s release from jail. (Express Photo by Ranjan Rahi)Madan Singh, the third among Anand Mohan’s five brothers, sat outside their pucca house, which was given a facelift ahead of the former MP’s release from jail. Madan, who bears a striking resemblance to his younger brother, said, “ Anand Mohan has been struggling since the age of 17. He put his higher education on hold to join the JP Movement in 1974.”
Madan held makhana garlands as he greeted guests at regular intervals. Since Anand Mohan did not come to the village as originally planned, the visitors garlanded Madan instead. Claiming that they “hailed from a family of freedom fighters and that their grandfather had welcomed Mahatma Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu and Vinoba Bhave to their village before Independence”, Madan said none of his brothers, except Anand Mohan, had shown any inclination towards politics. Madan’s son Roshan Kumar Singh is a three-time village panchayat mukhiya.
Narsingh Prasad Gupta, a friend and Madhepura resident, and his son Pawan Gupta arrived in Panchgachhia to meet Anand Mohan’s family. Gupta’s association with him dates back to their school days in Triveniganj in the late 1960s. Recalling their student movement days in the 1970s, Gupta said they would often flee to Nepal, about 350 km from the district, because they would be wanted by Bihar police due to their frequent participation in student protests. He said they spent so much time in Nepal that he ended up marrying a girl from there. “My in-laws’ place in Nepal was Anand Mohan’s hideout during the Emergency,” Gupta recalled.
Stating that the EBCs seldom got along with the Yadavs, he claimed, “When Anand Mohan arrived on the political scene, not just upper caste Rajputs and Brahmins, but a big chunk of the EBCs too started looking at him as a hero.”
At that time, Yadavs held complete dominance over the region. Anup Lal Yadav, who represented Supaul’s Triveniganj (now Pipra) Assembly, was the most dominant Yadav leader from the Kosi region. Gupta said, “We had started taking part in protests against the government. Anand Mohan decided to challenge Anup in the 1980 Assembly polls. He contested as an Independent. He lost but his votes ensured the victory of the third candidate (Jagdish Mandal). It was a victory of sorts for Anand Mohan.”
Anand Mohan was studying in the neighbouring Triveniganj at the time he had challenged Anup, the region’s stalwart Yadav politician. Though Anand Mohan was unsuccessful, it was the first time that an upper caste leader had challenged the dominance of a top Yadav leader, especially one who was a compatriot of former Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur. The Kosi region, which comprises the Lok Sabha constituencies of Supaul and Madhepura and parts of Khagaria, is dominated by OBC Yadavs. Come election time, the region reverberates with the slogan, “Rome Pope Ka, Madhepura Gope Ka (Just as Rome belongs to the Pope, Madhepura belongs to the Yadavs)”.
Anand Mohan, who was already in contact with Chandra Shekhar, the former Janata Party president who would go on to become the Prime Minister, tried to stay afloat as the Congress continued to dominate both national and state politics. Anand Mohan contested the 1984 elections from the Saharsa Lok Sabha seat as an Independent but lost badly.
His cousin Shiv Shanker Singh, a civil engineer from the neighbouring Supaul, claimed that several people had waged political vendettas against Anand Mohan over the last 25 years. Shiv said his return would “reboot” Kosi region’s politics. He added that Anand Mohan’s disciples Neeraj Singh Bablu and Kishore Kumar Munna have served as MLAs, while his son Chetan is a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA from Sheohar.
Scores of Anand Mohan’s supporters came to Panchgachia in the hope of meeting him on April 27. Panchgachhia is considered a model village, thanks to its six schools, a primary healthcare centre and a football ground. Locals claimed the development work was done by Anand Mohan and Nitish Kumar, who has visited the village twice as Chief Minister. They still recall Anand Mohan’s mother blessing Kumar at her Panchgachhia home during the 2010 Assembly campaign.
As for Anand Mohan, he recently told reporters while on parole before his release from jail, “If there was nothing special about me, why did leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee forge an alliance with me in 1996 and later Lalu Prasad? The media often discusses just one unfortunate episode in which I hardly had any role to play. But one must not forget that I have spent over 15 years in jail, so two families — one of Krishnaiah and one of Lovely Anand (his wife) — suffered.”
Meanwhile, G Uma Krishnaiah, the slain officer’s wife, has moved the Supreme Court challenging Anand Mohan’s premature release from jail.
Speaking about his release from jail, she had said earlier, “I didn’t even know about it (the release) … it broke my heart, took away my peace of mind. Nitish Kumar is setting a horrible precedent by releasing a person convicted of murder. For just a few Rajput votes, he has taken a decision that has so many consequences for the common people. … My husband was an IAS officer, and it is the Centre’s responsibility to ensure that justice is done.”
Anand Mohan and Kosi politics
Anand Mohan’s clout in Kosi and its adjoining regions can be understood from the fact that the RJD fielded Lovely from an Assembly segment in the 2020 polls. Though she lost to BJP’s Alok Ranjan, Chetan won from Sheohar.
Senior political analyst from Saharsa, Sanjay Soni, said, “Anand Mohan’s return will be a curious case for Kosi politics. While he can still rally a fair chunk of upper caste votes, the perception of him being an aggressive leader can still hurt him. Secondly, Anand Mohan being a part of the Mahagathbandhan (MGB) is not a very comfortable idea for the upper castes, who are often taken as BJP’s constituency.”
Soni added that Anand Mohan could still influence voting patterns in at least six Assembly segments of Madhepura, Supaul and Khagaria.
“As for the Lok Sabha polls, Supaul and Madhepura have been traditional MGB seats. Anand Mohan could consolidate this further at the expense of the BJP,” said Soni, who has tracked his political journey since the late 1980s.
At an individual level, Anand Mohan’s possible resurgence could threaten the positions of Bablu and Munna. Both upper caste Rajput leaders were among Anand Mohan’s closest aides during his heyday. Although Munna has been lying low after his brief stint in the BJP, Bablu shares a good rapport with Anand Mohan and even attended Chetan’s engagement ceremony. His wedding is scheduled for May 3 in Dehradun.
To a question on if he will align politically with Bablu, Anand Mohan responded, “It is Bablu who should come with me.”
Anand Mohan’s response indicates that Rajput leaders in the area may need to rally around him once again. However, his re-entry into politics will not be without challenges. Kumar’s decision to release him from jail is being seen as a balancing act amid the ongoing caste survey by the Bihar government. However, Kumar is also concerned about the potential Dalit backlash since the murdered IAS officer belonged to the same community. Therefore, Kumar reportedly asked Anand Mohan to ensure that his release from jail remained a low-key affair.
Overall, Anand Mohan’s return to politics has the potential to energise the state’s political landscape and revisit social formulations. However, there are chances of him forming his own party soon to increase his bargaining power and call the shots.
